More than 15,000 people chased 8,400 London finance job openings in September

Reuters
The number of new available jobs in the the UK's financial centre fell 5% in September year-on-year to 8,400, according to a survey by Morgan McKinley, while the number of people seeking jobs increased by 15%.

Month-on-month the number of fresh open positions increased by 1% in September, stabilising from a post-Brexit collapse in Luly.

Those who did find new jobs in September got an average of a 18% pay rise.

In July, the survey reported that the number of new City jobs plunged 27% while the number of people seeking them dropped 13%.

"Clearly there's an ongoing appetite to recruit," said Hakan Enver, operations director at Morgan McKinley Financial Services, adding: "Given the volatility that we have been facing, two months of positive growth is welcome news."

Here is the chart of new jobs:

Morgan McKinley

And the chart of people looking for them:

Morgan McKinley

Brexit, and the future status of London as the European Union's financial centre, has been the main focus for those entering the City's job market.

Prime minister Theresa May's government has raised the possibility of a so-called "Hard Brexit," which prioritises control over immigration, as opposed to maintaining some economic links in return for concessions on Freedom of Movement.

"Given the number of businesses affected in Britain and across the EU, and the massive contributions made by City workers to the British economy, it's frankly shocking to see the government take such a dismissive attitude towards passporting," said Enver.

"Stability is the foundation of business growth, so hopefully the government will right this course. If we are not careful, London will have a massive talent drain to countries such as France, Germany, USA, Japan and Ireland who have already turned on a charm offensive to woo our professional workforce," he said.